The Hip List

What's hot? What's cool?

Somebody filmed Rookie Card's record-release party at the Casbah, where they took to the sidewalk in front of the club to perform the Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R." for an encore. Though some instruments are inaudible due to the amps being inside the club, there's enough acoustic headbanging to get the small crowd singing along. The whole crew nearly falls over in amazement when, on cue, a jet soars overhead on its way to land at the airport, its roaring engine drowning out the final notes, identical to the original Beatles recording. The camera catches a shot of the jet and then swings back to everyone losing their minds over the supersonic synchronicity.

BEST RADIO RANT -- TOM DELONGE ON 91X

"It's so weird how our own government did it to us, 9/11 was not perpetrated by a bunch of people that just learned how to fly planes," Tom DeLonge announced May 8 while playing DJ in a mock takeover of 91X -- the station was temporarily renamed KAVA-FM. "We do know that the buildings came down in a fashion extremely similar to a controlled demolition of a building. We do know that expertise that is needed to fly those gigantic planes into that exact location could never have been achieved by someone that just learned how to fly a small plane...[Vice President Dick] Cheney knew that the planes were coming in, and he capped the order to leave it alone so it could hit."

BEST MAKEUP DATE -- THE SYN, MARCH 17, ACOUSTIC MUSIC SAN DIEGO

The reunited Syn -- with Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes -- were supposed to play AcousticMusicSanDiego on February 23 and 24. A week before the show, promoter Carey Driscoll found out (from the Reader) that the group wasn't coming due to low ticket sales. "Apparently, bands discovering that they're not as big a draw as their egos allow them to think these cancellations somehow fall under an 'act of God' clause," said Driscoll in his e-mail newsletter, "apparently because they think of themselves as gods." The Syn kissed and made up with the venue and appeared March 17, performing songs both new and from their mid-'60s heyday, with a borrowed acoustic guitar lent by local Yes tribute band Roundabout. After "The 14-Hour Technicolour Dream," Squire even told the audience a lengthy story about the Syn opening for Jimi Hendrix at London's Marquee club in 1965.

BEST GROUPIES -- ROCK SLUTS

"The only reason our friends put up with us is because they think there is a chance they might get laid," say the RockSluts on their MySpace page. The local club grrrls have posted a "Guide to Keeping Your Man" for others who date musicians. Among their tips:

"No rumpshaka dances during the show unless your man is in 2 Live Crew."

"You cannot drink on the band's tab! Buy your own."

"If you're a stripper, keep work on the pole, not at shows. Not everyone wants to know Victoria's Secret."

And, finally, "Don't make out with other band members' girlfriends at the bar. Save that for the after-party."

BEST BOLLYWOOD RINGTONES -- EMBIENCE

"There are three million Indians in the United States, including immigrants and those here on work visas," says Nimish Shrivastava of Embience, Inc. The local firm has a deal with Verizon Wireless to sell ringtones of Bhangran beats, Punjabi blends, sitar ragas, and classic Bollywood soundtrack tunes (Bollywood is India's Hollywood equivalent). Founded in 1998, Embience employs around 20 people and claims around 50,000 monthly users. A new service, "Drinknation," sends alcoholic drink recipes to your mobile phone. They're also introducing "Drinktini," enabling your phone to locate the nearest bars in most major cities. If you end up too drunk to drive, the service also calls you a cab.

BEST SHORT-LIVED COMEBACK -- IKE TURNER WITH THE GORILLAZ

When animated rockers the Gorillaz performed with guest stars in NYC over several nights in early April, many were surprised to see North County's Ike Turner earning great press for his performance of "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead." The Hollywood Reporter called his turn at the mike "all too brief," while the L.A. Times praised his "flamboyant piano solo," saying he "played the room [the way he did] during the heyday of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue." The New York Post reported, "Turner's piano rolls were limber, expressive, and projected a Crescent City barrelhouse style that conjured the late great Professor Longhair. Fantastic." Despite all this loving ink, a recent "Ultimate Movie Bad Guys" poll in Vibe magazine named Ike Turner (as portrayed in What's Love Got to Do with It) at number four, behind Hannibal Lecter, Darth Vader, and Freddie Krueger, but ahead of Norman Bates.

BEST JEWEL SPOOF -- "PANTS" BY HINDIBUNNI

Sung to the tune of Jewel's "Hands":

"Take a bite, a sip of your Sprite,

Forget about things fat-free and lite.

'Cause where there's a meal to super-size

there we shall go dining.

My pants are large, I know,

But I'm not fat, I'm just big-boned."

BEST CLOSET CHEF -- CATHRYN BEEKS

"I'm putting together a cookbook containing recipes from the San Diego music community, with an accompanying compilation CD of local artists," says Cathryn Beeks. "Each entry will have a little blurb from the contributor about how to serve the meal or where they got the idea." Beeks has collected recipes and drink mixes from various performers, radio personalities, and music fans around town, including Gregory Page, Lisa Sanders, photographer Steve Covault, and about 20 others. "Music writer Ed Decker gave me a Bloody Mary recipe, with two secret ingredients. Hilary [former 91X DJ] submitted a fruity topping for ice cream with rum and cinnamon. Carol Ames gave up her protein smoothie mix, and Dave Howard donated his vegetable jalousie recipe. Christopher Dale [Superdoo] submitted the directions from the back of a box of frozen taquitos. The book will come with a disclaimer explaining that the recipes haven't been tested."